Categoría: Ciudad compacta

Conferencia sobre «La ciudad compacta» en Castellón. Pinceladas previas

~ Joan Amenós ~ Deja un comentario

…Mi buen amigo José Luis Blasco, catedrático de Derecho Administrativo en la Facultad de Derecho en Castellón, me invita a hablar mañana sobre «La ciudad compacta» en el marco de las conferencias anuales sobre urbanismo que se imparten en dicho centro.

…Tal como hice el año pasado, propongo algunas  reflexiones para ir entrando en calor:

.-Publicación de «El mito legal de la ciudad compacta» (I).

.-Publicación de «El mito legal de la ciudad compacta» (y II).

Madrid desde Torres Blancas. Antonio López.

.-Hong Kong, paradigma de una ciudad compacta.

.-Los principios de urbanismo sostenible y ciudad compacta no eran mera palabrería.

.-Sobre burbujas inmobiliarias en una ciudad supercompacta: el caso de Hong Kong.

.-La clave escolar de la dispersión urbana.

.-El cotxe autònom ja no té espera.

.-Poor against poor.

.-Luces urbanas.

.-Ending the single-family district isn’t so simple (Stephen R. Miller).

432. Park Avenue. New York.Foto: The Guardian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ending the single-family district isn’t so simple (Stephen R. Miller).

~ Joan Amenós ~ Deja un comentario

… 1.-Scattered metropolitan areas can become more compact in two ways. First, thanks to the advance of spontaneous processes of recentralization. This is what has happened in a large part of the low density residential estates that we knew in our childhood. But there is a second option, which is to approve mandatory public rules that favor or impose concentration.

*

…2.-In the United States, however, the problem is complicated by the private agreements –covenants– that are applied in certain land developments or urban perimeters. It is an instrument that allows owners to control their environment. In our country, by the way, neighbors often manage to protect themselves through imperative Public Law regulations. For example, by ruling a pedestrian zone, a prohibition of truck traffic or a prohibition of nearby buildings that increase neighborhood density.

*

…3.-We are going to divide this article into three parts and underline some aspects in bold.

***

Ending the single-family district isn’t so simple

By Stephen R. Miller, January 2, 2019. STAR TRIBUNE.

***

Ending the single-family district isn’t so simple

City zoning changes may aim to alter the picture, but private accords, in the form of restrictive covenants, could undercut such efforts.
By Stephen R. Miller
JANUARY 2, 2019 — 5:53PM

…1.-In December, Minneapolis became the first American city to decide to eliminate single-family residential districts by permitting triplexes in all the city’s residential zones.

Minneapolis is not alone in pursuing a change: Other cities — including Seattle and Portland — are contemplating more dense development in their single-family districts. Legislation in California has contemplated state pre-emption of local single-family zoning around train stations.

California also recently required the permitting of accessory dwelling units (i.e., “in-law” units) in most of the state’s single-family districts.

All these efforts are controversial, but perhaps inevitable: In Minneapolis, 60 percent of the city’s area was designated single-family residential. Many U.S. cities are similarly zoned. If cities want to address housing affordability, racial segregation or climate change in any meaningful way, the single-family district has got to give.

Receiving little attention, however, is the fact that changing the zoning does not ensure the end of the single-family district. Since the Industrial Revolution, this country has had two overlapping systems of land control: one public, implemented through zoning; and one private, implemented through the “restrictive covenant.”

*

…2.-Until the Industrial Revolution, courts disfavored restrictive covenants. But rapidly increasing urbanism and industrialism needed a legal tool to control change. American courts responded by making restrictive covenants easier to use.

By the late 1860s, when Frederick Law Olmsted developed the Chicago suburb of Riverside, Ill., he utilized restrictive covenants to do work now typical of zoning, such as mandatory setbacks. By the early 20th century, whole cities — like Beverly Hills — and neighborhoods within cities — like Country Club in Kansas City, Mo. — were regulated solely by private restrictive covenants that, among their most controversial restrictions, forbade sale to African-Americans.

Racially restrictive covenants were made unenforceable by the Supreme Court’s 1948 decision in Shelley vs. Kraemer. But by then, the public system of zoning, which took off after it was held constitutional in the Supreme Court’s 1926 decision in Euclid vs. Ambler, provided a public alternative to the covenant.

A city could zone out multifamily housing and when mixed with federal mortgage policy that prevented minorities from getting mortgages for single-family homes, create de facto segregation.

**

…3.-Now that Minneapolis and other cities are changing the public regulations, private regulation may well return in force.

Some 20 percent of Americans already live in a community governed by restrictive covenants, such as Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs), where the most common requirement is retention of the single-family residential use. If Minneapolis does not address the private restrictive covenant, it may simply see neighborhoods record restrictive covenants to maintain the single-family nature of the neighborhood by private agreement when no longer mandated by public regulation.

Reformers have several options, all controversial. States with enabling statutes that govern “common interest communities” could prohibit enforcement of restrictive covenants that limit a lot to fewer than three units, or permit local governments to opt in to such a rule.

Local governments in states that permit “home rule” could do the same within their jurisdictions.

State constitutions could be amended to prohibit single-family districts [!!!], whether created by public regulation or private agreement.

State courts could also take a stand. In the 2018 case of Tarr vs. Timberwood Park Owners Association, the Texas Supreme Court interpreted the term “single-family residential” in CC&Rs to include the commercial use of homes through short-term rental platforms like Airbnb. Similar decisions favoring more intense use of single-family homes governed by restrictive covenants could become more common in state courts.

Finally, many common interest communities are created at the time of construction solely to permit developers of phased projects to keep control over the community until the developer has sold the last of its lots. Many such communities likely have no long-term interest in CC&Rs. States should consider requiring an affirmative vote to retain the restrictive covenants imposed by the developer — including the single-family lot provision — after the community is built out.

The decision in Minneapolis to address the legacy of segregation in its single-family districts deserves praise. But unless the city also resists the power of the restrictive covenant to create the same result through private agreement, Minneapolis — and other cities that follow its lead — may well find it has gone through enormous effort to see little result.

*

Stephen R. Miller is a law professor and associate dean at the University of Idaho College of Law.

***

Sobre burbujas inmobiliarias en una ciudad supercompacta: el caso de Hong Kong.

~ Joan Amenós ~ Deja un comentario

…Nuestro colega y colaborador Oriol Caudevilla nos aporta hoy un artículo publicado en Septiembre en China Daily (se puede consultar el original aquí: ***). Lo transcribimos con nuestra tradicional ordenación y subrayando en negrita algunos conceptos relevantes: 

 

 

HK needs to think creatively to solve its housing problem

 

Oriol Caudevilla suggests practical ways to resolve the city’s housing problems – including  using the fringes of country parks and converting industrial land and buildings for residential use.

…1.- As I said in my article “Singapore’s sell-by date could solve land hoarding in HK” (July 27), Hong Kong has big issues regarding property prices: They have never been higher. According to the Centa-City Index, real estate prices in Hong Kong have increased almost by 300 percent from 2003 to 2018.

…In this article, I will not dwell on the factors that stimulated real estate prices to an unprecedented level, but would rather discuss whether there is a threat of a property bubble in Hong Kong, and, if there is, whether it is likely to burst.

…In my opinion, there is undoubtedly a potential property bubble considering the three-fold increase in property prices in the period 2003-18. Let me cite studies like the UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index Report (2017), which stated that Hong Kong might be facing another financial bubble as current housing prices are seen as “fundamentally unjustified”, that benchmark metrics such as the previously quoted price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios have reached all-time highs. 

…For me, there are three main factors that foretell a property bubble: the lack of building land, inadequate government policies, and the constant globalization of the financial markets. 

*

…2.-Regarding the lack of building land, there is a big mismatch between the demands of society and the supply of land. Hong Kong has more than 7.2 million residents crammed into a relatively small land mass. This land mass, per se, is not so small, since Hong Kong has a total land area of 1,104 square kilometers. The problem here resides in the fact that almost 40 percent of the total land has been designated as country parks and special areas, which prohibits any construction on those areas. Consequently, construction is permitted only on 60 percent of Hong Kong’s land area. 

…This issue could be solved in several ways, but none of them seems to please everyone. It is critical for the long-term well-being of Hong Kong that solutions — even partial solutions — are found to make land available for housing. The government could find a way to stop land hoarding by the developers, a way to reclaim more land, or a way to reduce the size of some country parks.

…In the last few years the government has tried to implement different policies to curb property prices by trying to eliminate speculators from the market. An example of this policy is the Double Stamp Duty. Even if it is true that these policies have reduced the sale volume by eliminating speculators from the market, it is also true that there might be a psychological effect on the supply side, as policies might affect the property developers’ perspective on the projected weakening demand and prospects of the market due to increase in transaction costs, thus the willingness for producers to supply more properties would decrease. Therefore, in the long run, the supply of properties decreases, which will undoubtedly push up the property price.

…As to the globalization of financial markets, homebuyers in the past were mainly local people, while currently investors from outside the city are entering the Hong Kong real estate market. This being the case, the continuous capital inflow into Hong Kong has kept home prices high and made homeownership increasingly unaffordable.

**

…3.-So will this bubble burst any time soon? My answer is no. Hong Kong’s property bubble will not burst, at least not in the near future, unless it is triggered by some unforeseen disaster. Property crashes in Hong Kong have occurred only during the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak in 2003 and the global financial crisis in 2008. It was not precipitated by an overheated property market. Even if property prices are extremely high, there is liquidity in Hong Kong. Liquidity is beyond any doubt the main safety valve obviating a property bubble burst either in Hong Kong or on the Chinese mainland. Moreover, the bubble will not burst because developers will keep on raising prices while finding ways to tempt people to buy. In this case, what goes up may not necessarily come down. 

…To sum up, there is no magic bullet to overcome Hong Kong’s property issues in one go. It will require a multipronged approach because the community hasn’t been able to reach a consensus. The opposing sectors would have to compromise by adopting land reclamation, using the fringes of country parks, converting industrial land and buildings for residential use, even requesting the central government to apportion land near the border for our use. It’s time for everyone to think outside the box and think creatively for solutions! 

   The author holds a doctorate in Hong Kong real estate law and economics. He has worked as a business analyst for a Hong Kong publicly listed company. 

***

 

Plaça Rovira i Trias (I)

~ Joan Amenós ~ Deja un comentario

…       1.-Magnífica mañana con los compañeros de la Pompeu Fabra, hablando de ciudades y de normas y aprendiendo y revisando ideas. Me comenta alguien que el relevante geógrafo XYZ no conduce –como ocurre, según me entero luego, con algunos de los más destacados geógrafos catalanes de estos últimos años y de la actualidad-. Alguien debería escribir una tesis doctoral sobre la diferente percepción del territorio que tenemos los que nos movemos a pie o en ferrocarril habitualmente. Pero vayamos al grano. Repasando algunas notas, me encuentro con esta joya de Luis Eduardo Aute, una canción  que es una buena descripción de algunas marcas propias de la denominada ciudad compacta.

*

…       2.–Gracia es uno de los barrios más bellos de Barcelona, en gran parte por la estructura de calles y manzanas heredada de mediados del siglo XIX. Destacan especialmente las diversas plazas del barrio que, junto con las calles, es casi lo único que, con el vocabulario actual, podríamos considerar como terrenos de cesión forzosa para los promotores. El contraste con el Ensanche es evidente y la ciudad, sin llegar al extremo del casco antiguo –Ciutat Vella-, vuelve a hacerse sinuosa y encogida (a los taxistas no suele gustarles). La plaza de Rovira i Trias es, precisamente, una de las más populares.

**

…       3.-En gran parte, Gracia podría reivindicar algo de los patrones de la ciudad mediterránea compacta -aunque en su día jugó descaradamente como un suburb que recibía la población y las industrias que no cabían en Barcelona, incluso diseminándolas por la llanura todavía virgen-. Pues bien, la canción sitúa su relato a mediados del siglo XX y observamos, por ejemplo, la mezcla de usos en zona urbana y la consiguiente contigüidad. Así, el padre de Aute parece que no trabaja muy lejos de su residencia y aún tiene tiempo de bajar a tomar una horchata a la heladería del barrio. Incluso, es posible ir paseando más tarde hasta el bar, centro neurálgico presidido por espectaculares ensaladillas. El uso recreativo inmediato se cierra con el cine Rovira, que parece lleno de familias con grandes y chicos

…. El uso comercial también está ahí mismo, con la farmacia y el quiosco. Curiosamente, aparece también el transporte público –otra de las claves de la compacidad- con la irrupción del tranvía (que, además, marca la hora de cierre y no se plantea, ni por asomo, ninguna “libertad de horarios”).  Al final del día, es posible volver andando tranquilamente a casa. Sin embargo, es cierto que queda un resto de baja densidad en la torre con jardín de Massens, con su pozo y su suelo con piedras. Hoy, el jardín ya se halla intensamente edificado. En efecto,  puede contemplarse la calle Massens en El ojo del tiempo, donde apreciamos fácilmente las diversas manchas verdes o no edificadas de la calle en los años cuarenta-cincuenta del siglo XX.

 

…       Bien, todo lo anterior no es más que el aperitivo de esta magnífica canción, de la cual he transcrito la letra. Pero, cuando ya la hayan escuchado, les explicaré una interesante historia que deriva, precisamente, de la plaza Rovira i Trias (el enlace de la canción aparece al final de la letra)…

 

“Somnis de Plaça Rovira”

 

 

“A mi padre
y a Climent Comulada, in memoriam.
A Jordi Martín, a la familia Vall
y a todos los vecinos de la Plaça Rovira.
A mi prima Luisita Gozalbo
y a mi familia catalana, con profundo amor.”

De vegades, els somnis 
viuen la realitat
i a l’invers hi ha la vida
que fa real el somiat

con aquesta nit dolça
d’un agost d’envelats
pels carrers fent la festa
que em transporta al passat,

un passat com un barri
de futurs sense espills
on van viure els meus avis,
on van néixer els seus fills.

Tinc records del meu pare
quan, després del treball,
ens baixàvem a beure
les orxates d’en Vall.

Plaça Rovira, vella Plaça Rovira
del meu barri de Gràcia,
i el meu cor adormit,
Plaça Rovira, em bategues guspires
d’un foc que ja era cendra…
I, més que fum,
ets tota llum
aquesta nit.

I a la nit ens n’anàvem
per canviar un poc d’ambient,
fins el Bar Comulada,
el palau d’en Climent

on las ensaladillas,
de la seva patent,
feien que el tast dels somnis
fos un gust pel client.

La farmàcia d’en Pere
i el quiosc deien «prou,
a tancar que ja arriba
el darrer trenta-nou«.

I el Cinema Rovira,
va ser un somni guarnit
amb Charlot fent rialles
pels grans i els més petits…

Plaça Rovira, vella Plaça Rovira…

I al primer son del somni,
quan el temps va a partir,
el meu pare em deia:
«anem a casa a dormir».

I en silenci tornàvem
lentament cap amunt
a la torre dels avis
i tots els seus difunts.

I entre el pou i las pedres
del jardí de Massens,
la galàxia ens plorava
pluges de Sant Llorenç.

I el meu pare em parlava
assenyalant-me el cel:
«fes-li, abans dels teus somnis,
un petó al teu estel».

Plaça Rovira, vella Plaça Rovira… 

*

La canción: «Somnis de Plaça Rovira» (con magníficas fotografías de Juan Miguel Morales López).

***